Mayworks Halifax—the festival celebrating workers and the arts—isn’t gonna let COVID-19 hold it down. The annual event—which kicks off tomorrow and has socially distant programming available all month long—is rife with the sort of content that makes you feel seen and helps you learn about the labour movement. Even better? It’s a slice of normalcy […]
Music Festivals
Posted inNews + Opinion
Consent Kitties hit the dance floor in the name of safe space
When his friends began avoiding the music festival scene due to one too many negative experiences on the dance floor, long-time festival-goer James MacDonald knew it was time for change. In 2017 MacDonald floated the idea of what it would be like to have a point person attend shows with the sole role of facilitating […]
Posted inArts + Music
norc brings your lucid dreams to life
norc w/The Brood, No, It’s Fine., Sleeping Machines Thu Aug 22, 8pm-12am The Seahorse Tavern 2037 Gottingen Street $8 A lthough they hail from the Annapolis Valley, the three members of norc first met here in Halifax: Guitarist Zach Hazelwood and drummer Ryan Holland got together and played a show as a duo, but something was […]
Posted inArts + Music
Dancing and sweating at Cavendish Beach Music Festival
While everyone in attendance certainly didn’t know all the words to every Tanya Tucker song—as Gretchen Wilson would have preferred—festival-goers at Cavendish Beach Music Festival were certainly revelling in the town’s small-town, down-home country feel. The country music festival took place last weekend, and amidst the heat and sweat there were indeed also tears, laughter, […]
Posted inArts + Music
Scotia Festival of Music and Chris Wilcox: 40 years and 40 festivals
O ften referred to as the “music of friends,” chamber music has stood the test of time as a genre that, from the Medieval period to present day, has relied on the cohesion, synchronicity and mutual respect of all involved. For musicians of the genre, the intimate sense of community, memories and moments shared are […]
Posted inArts + Music
Chinese Festival Halifax announces inaugural lineup
Halifax’s first-ever Chinese Festival will kick off Saturday September 9 with a big event at the Rebecca Cohn and end with a free waterfront extravaganza on the 22nd, it was announced on Wednesday. The Canadian government named 2018 the Canada-China Year of Tourism as a way to celebrate and explore the history and opportunities between the […]
Posted inArts + Music
OBEY Convention announces lineup
OBEY’s back to make your May long weekend wildly, wonderfully weird with sonic stylings like your ears have never heard before. The four-day sound and music fest boasts uber-dancable Kudro beats courtesy of Portugal’s Nídia, emotional catharsis with the energy-cleansing rhythms of duo ONO and classical lute playing by Chinese literati-inspired Liu Fang. Rounding out […]
Posted inArts + Music
Open Waters music festival swims against the mainstream
Open Waters Festival 2017 January 6-10 Sir James Dunn Theatre, The Company House $10-$25 at Dal Box Office Festival passes $55-$60 The Open Waters Festival is about to flood two local venues with events featuring “exploratory music.” Lukas Pearse is the artistic director of the Upstream Music Association, which presents these events every year. He […]
Posted inArts + Music
SappyFest is a small, sweet world
Rolling into SappyFest on Friday afternoon, my heart swelled. The fest is one of Atlantic Canada’s most anticipated of the year, and it fills Sackville, New Brunswick’s main drag with music of all genres for a long weekend, this year taking place from July 29-31. The town’s small size—and its lovely inhabitants—are part of what […]
Posted inArts + Music
Six degrees of Nile Rodgers
1. CHIC Nile Rodgers and and bassist Bernard Edwards co-founded the badass, funked up disco band in the mid-‘70s, giving music-lovers timeless dance hits like Grammy hall-of-famer “Le Freak” and the oft-sampled (see: “Rapper’s Delight”) “Good Times.” Chic remains a relevant fixture, releasing its latest in 2015, and has been heralded as one of the […]
Posted inArts + Music
Thundercat’s bass progression
Stephen Bruner has had a love for the bass for as long as he can remember. He says that he always gravitated towards stringed instruments as a kid, and has countless family photos of himself as a young boy holding a bass to prove it. Bruner—who’s now 31 years old and better known as Thundercat—hasn’t […]
Posted inArts + Music
It’s the summer of Reeny Smith
Reeny Smith has a secret and she doesn’t want to share. Chatting by phone one recent morning, she drops succulent clues and small details, but politely declines to say too much, no matter which way the question is rephrased. As the North Preston performer gracefully changes the topic to her recently hectic schedule, she seems […]